1938

SHY? PERHAPS. BUT NOT RETIRING: "It's not a job, it's an adventure." So spake John Armour in the Oak Park (Ill.) Montage in describing his new endeavor. "In place of this somewhat sedentary existence (faux retirement Ed.)," he continued, "I have been thrust into an environment loaded with youth and youthful activities which I thought I had outgrown

John, it seems, recently shot into orbit with a "gung-ho bunch of high school coworkers at Ridgeland Commons, a facility dedicated to offering quality recreation to children of all ages." His virtually countless "youthful activities" include tangling with brooms, mops, brushes, squeegees, and the like, as well as falling off a small tractor (once), and showing a soccer ball who's boss. To say nothing of calling on Oak Park grammar and junior high school principals in connection with a soccer tournament.

It's no mystery why John hasn't really retired. He doesn't have time to.

INTRAMURAL COMPETITION REVISITED: Deeply committed to protecting its news sources and wary of initiating internecine conflict, this column reports the following verbatim comment from "a usually reliable source" without further attribution: "... I paid a quiet visit to 1939's 50th. Boy, do those guys look old. The '38ers look much better preserved, but then we always did dripk more!" The source clearly equates being preserved with being canned. An acceptable tautology.

OCTOBER FEST: He's at it again. Richard M. (Dogged Dick) Francis, 1938's tour director extraordinaire, is once again beating the tom-tom and sending up smoke signals heralding the 1989 mini-reunion. The dates are October 13, 14, and 15; the agenda includes a foliage-filled weekend, complete with reception, dinner, Alumni parade, campus bonfire, tailgate buffet luncheon, plus, of course, a football game. Yale.

Seems too good to be true, but Dick also promises "night caps along with coffee and donuts."

GRACE NOTES: From time to time brief notes from Bob Pollack come this way. Usually they forward letters, articles, or stories of interest about Dartmouth and Dartmouth people. While timing and opportunity to quote from them haven't meshed because of early copy deadlines, they're welcome and appreciated. The '38 network is strong and binding. More!

SEPTEMBER SONG: It's a long, long time from April to September, but quality knows no time constraint. Last April, at Class Officers Weekend, a featured speaker was Professor Don Pease of Dartmouth's English department. Shades of Dr. Bill Eddy, that sui generis master of our language and literature in the Hanover of yore! This man is, in the opinion of one comparative illiterate, astute, articulate, artful an all-A class act.

If this sounds fulsome, so be it. But had there been the opportunity to enroll in his class on the spot, this column would have been written by a born again student of English.

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